Battlefield Birding

Last July, my history professor husband and I took a trip to Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia to visit a selection of Civil War battlefields that comprise the "western theater" of that great war.  From our starting point in Vicksburg, Mississippi, we drove north up the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway to Shiloh, Tennessee, then northeast to Fort Donelson, where we also contrived to visit the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge.  We then made our way back to the southeast, where we visited the Nashville area and Murfreesboro before heading to Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, ending our tour of battlefields with Chickamauga in Georgia.   

If those places and names mean little to you beside hazy memories of your high school U.S. history class, fear not.  This is less about the history (sorry, Eric) and more about the wildlife that thrives in these historic places.

The preservation of battlefields over the last century has led to the inadvertent creation of some excellent bird habitat, as woods and meadows are maintained in a forever-wild state as intact pieces of the natural landscape have been carved out of the surrounding urban and agricultural development.  On these carefully guarded hallowed grounds, wildlife thrives and the birding is surprisingly good.

I worked so hard to find a Brown Thrasher two summers ago in Massachusetts... and here one was, on our first morning in Mississippi, perched right out in the open on a battlefield monument at our very first stop of the day!

Knowing I would have time on my hands while Eric explored battlefields, I was eager to see what birds I could turn up, especially at Vicksburg, Shiloh and Chickamauga National Military Parks.  My wish-list of target birds on this trip to the southeastern United States included eight species: 

  • Mississippi Kite
  • Eastern Screech-Owl
  • Acadian Flycatcher
  • Wood Thrush
  • Brown-headed Nuthatch
  • Kentucky Warbler
  • Yellow-throated Warbler
  • Dickcissel 

Californian birders never get tired of seeing brilliant Northern Cardinals when we visit their range to the east!


At Vicksburg National Military Park, in Warren County, Mississippi, I found 27 species of birds while tagging along as Eric toured the battlefield.  I thought that wasn't too bad for a warm, humid day in mid-July!

The highlight of the day was the bevy of Mississippi Kites I saw, soaring overhead and catching insects in flight.  This was another species that I had a brief and altogether unsatisfactory glimpse of when we were in New England, and was eager to get a better look at on this trip.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the appropriate habitat in Mississippi, they were everywhere!

Mississippi Kite in flight


Mississippi Kites feed on a variety of small animals, but large insects account for a significant proportion of their prey.  Favorite foods, which they catch in the air, include grasshoppers, cicadas and dragonflies (all of which were abundant at the Vicksburg National Miliary Park in July!)

Mississippi Kite silhouette


The visitor center at Shiloh National Military Park, in Hardin County, Tennessee, had a whole informational display about the birds that can be found on the battlefield.  This display prominently featured a large photograph of one of my most coveted species: the Kentucky Warbler.  And Shiloh delivered!  In fact, I found not one but three of my target species here (and also had another good look at a Mississippi Kite).  

Walking down a wooded path, I was able to get excellent looks at a male Kentucky Warbler as well as a perched, singing Acadian Flycatcher.  Acadian Flycatchers had been calling out their distinct "peet-zah" song all over the place, and here at last I was able to get a good, long look at one!  A somewhat distant Wood Thrush also popped out of the dense undergrowth for a brief look, and added its enchanting song to the forest chorus.

At the Shiloh visitor center, I also learned that Eastern Bluebirds nest in cannon barrels on the battlefield.  So, I wandered over and took a peek in the first one we came to...  

Civil War era cannon at Shiloh National Miliary Park.  An unlikely nesting location for Eastern Bluebirds!

...and this is what I found inside!!

Eastern Bluebird nest inside a historic cannon barrel at Shiloh National Military Park


All told, my July day of birding at Shiloh National Military Park yielded 28 species.

Not too far from Fort Donelson, another Civil War site Eric was eager to visit, is the Duck River unit of the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge.  According to eBird, this location was a prime spot to find another target bird and lifer: Dickcissel.

Male Dickcissel singing in the rain


Dickcissels look to me like a cross between a Meadowlark and a House Sparrow (meaning no disrespect, of course), and in the past, ornithologists have alternately placed them in the New World sparrow family as well as the blackbird family; today, they are considered a member of the cardinal family, which includes grosbeaks and buntings as well.  Dickcissels are birds of North America's Great Plains and prairies, and for many, their call (which ostensibly sounds a bit like their name) is as iconic and representative of that habitat as the Meadowlark.

Male Dickcissel perched in a type of hibiscus that I believe is native to Tennessee


Duck River was a fun place to bird, and reminded me of our wetland wildlife refuges back home... only much greener!  We spent just a couple of hours here one afternoon (after a very rainy morning at Fort Donelson), and were able to turn up 39 species of birds.  

Male Dickcissel


I had planned to find Brown-headed Nuthatches at Chickamauga National Military Park, in Catoosa County, Georgia, but happily, I found them sooner than that at a stop we made along the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway, in Mississippi.  Our overcast morning at Chickamauga was a productive birding day, even without the nuthatches, and I ended my birding at that location with a list of 34 species.  Oh, and this adorable Eastern Gray Squirrel, who came to check out our lunch.

Eastern Gray Squirrel 

All told, our trip to the south yielded 97 species of birds - including all of my target species except the owl.  We also encountered several species of mammals as well: gray squirrel and fox squirrel, deer, groundhogs, bears, bats and even armadillos!  

Chickamauga National Military Park


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About Me

Named after the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I am a naturalist and avid birder based in Central California. Above all, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, our amazingly good Creator God whose magnificent creation is an unending source of awe and inspiration for me. I hope to inspire others to appreciate, respect and protect this beautiful earth we share, and invite you to come along with me as I explore the nature of California and beyond!
- Siera Nystrom -



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